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You can build an actor by describing it to your coding agent. One prompt installs Cowboy’s skill files, which teach the agent how to build on Cowboy, and the agent writes, tests and deploys the actor from there. Before you start, you need the cowboy CLI and uv, a coding agent such as Claude Code or Codex, and Node.js for npx. The CLI also comes with its own agent (Build with Lasso).

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1. Give your agent this prompt

Open your agent in an empty folder and paste this:
In place of [task], say what the actor should do, when it should run, and which network to use. Use Cloud unless you’ve been given another. For example:
build an actor that checks the price of Bitcoin every hour, asks a model whether the move matters, and keeps the answer. Test it, then deploy it to Cloud, and start its schedule.

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2. Let the agent build and deploy it

The agent creates the project, checks and tests it on your machine, then deploys it. Everything before the deploy is free. Once deployed, the actor keeps running after you close your editor, and pays for its own work from its balance. The Quickstart shows the same steps by hand.

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What you do yourself

Two things stay with you, money and keys. The agent starts the credit claim, and you approve it at the link it gives you (Billing). API keys you enter in your browser, not through the agent (Your keys and your data).

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3. Keep it or sell it

Your actor keeps running while it has money, and you can call it from the CLI or from an app. To change it, ask your agent to deploy a new actor: code can’t change after a deploy, so the new one gets a new address. If others could use it, list it in the General Store, where people pay to hire it. Start a listing.

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